WEBVTT - Whittington on Need for Bipartisan Impeachment Process (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>With Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, many political experts

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<v Speaker 1>speculate that President Trump would likely only be impeached if

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<v Speaker 1>the Republicans decided his presence in the White House would

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<v Speaker 1>wreck their own chances of re election in the mid

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<v Speaker 1>term elections. Some predict that if the Democrats sweep the

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<v Speaker 1>Republicans out of the House in the mid terms, a

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<v Speaker 1>Democratic House majority would demand an impeachment inquiry against the

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<v Speaker 1>president seem partisan to you. Our next guest, Keith Weddington,

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<v Speaker 1>a professor at politics at Princeton University, has written a

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<v Speaker 1>column in Law Fair Bloc entitled an impeachment should not

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<v Speaker 1>be a partisan affair? So, Keith, leaving aside for a

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<v Speaker 1>moment the question of whether impeachment is warranted under the Constitution,

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<v Speaker 1>how do you get to the point in real life

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<v Speaker 1>where it is not a partisan affair? Well, I think

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<v Speaker 1>part of the question is whether or not the facts

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<v Speaker 1>they're discovered, UM so clearly violate expectations about how an

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<v Speaker 1>office should be conducted that people on both sides of

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<v Speaker 1>the aisle um can agree that something has gone terribly wrong. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>It's been commonplace that most for impeachments have been a

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<v Speaker 1>federal judges who behaved badly, and in most of those

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<v Speaker 1>cases we've had bipartisan impeachments. Presidents just raised a very

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<v Speaker 1>tricky problem. From that perspective, Keith Um. One argument that

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<v Speaker 1>people have been putting out for UH moving forth towards

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<v Speaker 1>impeachment now is that there are norms that have to

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<v Speaker 1>be defended. There are standards of behavior that we have

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<v Speaker 1>for a president, and many of his critics say he

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<v Speaker 1>has gone beyond those Uh, he has flouted those norms.

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<v Speaker 1>What's the response to that to people who want to

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<v Speaker 1>move quickly with impeachment, Well, I think it's almost impossible

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<v Speaker 1>to move quickly with impeachment. I mean, part of part

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<v Speaker 1>of the effort has to be to build up the

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<v Speaker 1>factual groundwork on what actually happened. You need to build

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<v Speaker 1>UM widespread political support UM that what's happened is UM

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<v Speaker 1>grave enough, and there are no other obvious solutions besides

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<v Speaker 1>moving to an impeachment UM. So they just can't be

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<v Speaker 1>a rush on that process. UM. But teaching somebody because

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<v Speaker 1>they are dramatically outside the norms of behavior is one

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<v Speaker 1>of the things UM that have UM driven impeachment efforts

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<v Speaker 1>before UM, and part of The question is how the

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<v Speaker 1>administration respond to that. Can the administration put its own

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<v Speaker 1>house in order um uh and come back to more

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<v Speaker 1>normal local practices so that impeachment doesn't seem necessary. Would

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<v Speaker 1>you say that some of President Trump's recent um, the

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<v Speaker 1>recent events or recent revelations about him, are a little

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<v Speaker 1>more than outside the norm? For example, revealing classified foreign

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<v Speaker 1>intelligence information to Russian government officials, UM, trying to influence

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<v Speaker 1>former FBI Director Jim Comey away from the Russian investigation.

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<v Speaker 1>Are those just a little bit beyond the norm? Those

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<v Speaker 1>are certainly troubling UM and UH. Congress ought to UM

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<v Speaker 1>make every effort to try to figure out exactly what

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<v Speaker 1>happened in those cases and try to lay out the

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<v Speaker 1>context of what happened to see UM, how reasonable an

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<v Speaker 1>explanation there is for what happened, UM, Whether these are

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<v Speaker 1>things that might create recurring problems, or whether these were

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<v Speaker 1>one off mistakes that were made UM and have already

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<v Speaker 1>been corrected in lots of ways. UM. So there's lots

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<v Speaker 1>of important issues that would have to be thought through

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<v Speaker 1>before necessarily jumping to impeachments. UM. But UM, you know

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<v Speaker 1>those are those are clearly troubling UM and and um appropriately,

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<v Speaker 1>I think Congress UM thinks that they ought to be

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<v Speaker 1>looking at that carefully. Oh do you think that? Um? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>let me ask you this if um uh, you know, Congresses,

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<v Speaker 1>let's let's say Democrats take over the House at the

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<v Speaker 1>next at the mid term election. Are you is your

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<v Speaker 1>argument that they should not move for impeachment without pretty

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<v Speaker 1>good assurance that you would get the it's two thirds

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<v Speaker 1>of the Senate right to get to to get I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>that's that's a pretty high standard. But is your argument

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<v Speaker 1>that they should hold off until they're pretty confident they

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<v Speaker 1>would actually uh get the conviction? Well, I think it

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<v Speaker 1>depends on on what they're trying to accomplish, um uh.

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<v Speaker 1>And so so, if for example, they really think, um,

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<v Speaker 1>it's absolutely necessary that this president be removed before the

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<v Speaker 1>next election, um, then trying to lay the groundwork for

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<v Speaker 1>an actual conviction in the Senate becomes essential. Um. Eve. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>the goal is simply too you know, on the on

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<v Speaker 1>the low sides or justcre political points, but but on

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<v Speaker 1>a better way of approaching, as to think that we

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<v Speaker 1>want to re establish an emphasize certain norms of behave

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<v Speaker 1>You're um, it may not actually be necessary to get

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<v Speaker 1>conviction or to try to guarantee that people will in

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<v Speaker 1>fact change their behavior um and and behave in ways

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<v Speaker 1>they're more appropriate. We will see what what's what happens

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<v Speaker 1>with this. We're going to be discussing this many many times,

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<v Speaker 1>i'm sure in the future. And all three presidents who

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<v Speaker 1>have faced impeachment proceedings, the impeachments were brought by the

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<v Speaker 1>opposing political party. Uh just a note there, thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for being with us on Bloomberg Law. That's Keith Weddington,

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<v Speaker 1>Professor of Politics at Princeton University,